[ODE] motion capture

[Chris Engels]

I  am just starting to work with ODE, so this may be a stupid question: 
would it be possible to combine simple motion capture data into ODE?
I am working with a mixed reality system and would like to add some 
simple dynamic objects. Right now, I am trying to create a proof of 
concept model of a real paddle interacting with a virtual ball. The 
paddle is updated in the system via a standard 4x4 transformation matrix 
each time step, and this is presently all I am trying to work with, 
although I hope that I can make a more complex system later. I have read 
the warning in the user guide that says this would abuse the system, but 
I was hoping this could be worked around somehow. I thought about maybe 
calculating the force required to move the paddle between two points and 
then just applying that to the system, but I am not sure exactly how to 
go about doing it. Any help would be appreciated.
-Chris Engels